Internet companies try to stop spam

Two of the world's biggest e-mail providers are preparing to charge companies for delivering large numbers of e-mails, which would otherwise be stopped by anti-spam filters. This report from our North American business correspondent Guto Harri:

Spam is the Internet equivalent of junk mail ¹. At best, it's unwanted; at its worst, it can be sinister or offensive ². Various software systems have been developed toblock it and some are pretty effective. But legitimate e-mail from big business is often filtered by anti-spam software, making it hard for the company to operate and depriving customers of potentially attractive offers.

So in the next few months, Yahoo and AOL will try a different approach. For less than a penny a piece ³, they're offering to deliver e-mails directly to people's inboxes, bypassing any anti-spam device. Sending thousands or millions of e-mails would clearly incur a significant cost - but for that fee, the business would get a stamp of approval and authenticity ⁴. The customer could be reassured that the approach was genuine, and Yahoo and AOL would make a lot of money. Anyone who didn't want to pay could carry on as before.

¹ the Internet equivalent of junk mail -the same thing on the Internet as letters, especially advertisements that are sent by organisations to large numbers of people. The term 'junk mail' is used to show disapproval.

² At best, it's unwanted; at its worst, it can be sinister or offensive - if something is 'sinister', it makes you feel that something evil, dangerous, or illegal is happening or will happen. If something is 'offensive' it is very rude or insulting and likely to upset people. Notice the construction: 'at best... at worst...'. It is used to emphasise the negative aspects or qualities of something. We put the least bad quality first, then the worst.

³ For less than a penny a piece - for under a penny for each e-mail

⁴ a stamp of approval and authenticity - if something has 'a stamp of' particular qualities, it has those qualities. 'Approval' means officially accepted or allowed. 'Authenticity' means the quality of being true.

9. Read the following article and say how you have understood modern term “cewebrity”. Render the article.

Cewebrity

The artist Andy Warhol famously said that he thought everybody would be famous for fifteen minutes, and with the increasing power of the Internet, that’s more true today than ever. Anybody with an Internet connection and a computer can now become a cewebrity.

A cewebrity is somebody who is only, or perhaps mostly famous through their presence on the Internet, an Internet personality who crosses over to the mainstream. A web celebrity.

As people rely on the Internet more and more for their entertainment needs, it is becoming increasingly attractive as a platform for new writing, music, film, and art. The writer Stephen King has published books only on the Internet and some musicians get a recording contract through the popularity they build up on the web.

Recently an American newspaper, the Seattle PI [Post-Intelligencer] decided to abandon its paper copy and only publish online. As its audience grows, the Internet is becoming more powerful in making people famous, and some videos which are posted on the Internet become incredibly popular, being seen by millions of people in a short space of time. This is an age where a video of someone dancing and pretending to sing a famous song can get them an appearance on TV shows and magazines. It’s an age of cewebrity!

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16